South Africa, the only African country that is a member of the G20, holds the presidency of the grouping until the end of November 2025. During this time, it could help drive the African continent’s food security agenda, writes Agbiz chief economist Wandile Sihlobo.
The G20 is made up of 19 member countries plus the European Union and the African Union. Its members account for 85% of global GDP, 75% of international trade, and two-thirds of the world’s population.
The presidency of the G20 rotates annually among member countries and is run as a troika made up of the past, present and next holder of the presidency. Though most of the G20’s agenda rolls over from year to year, the country holding the presidency has some leeway to set its priorities in consultation with fellow member countries.
For agriculture, South Africa has set four G20 priorities:
- The promotion of policies and investments that can lead to improved food and nutrition security
- Empowering youth and women to participate in agrifood systems
- Fostering innovation and the transfer of useful technologies in agriculture industries
- Building climate resilience for sustainable food production.
These priorities could benefit the African continent, especially as many other African countries have long struggled with food insecurity and low agricultural productivity.
Based on my work as an agricultural economist, I would argue that South Africa could make use of its G20 presidency to support other African countries in building food security and raising the productivity of their agricultural sector. This dovetails with South Africa’s G20 priorities for agriculture and food security.
To achieve this, South Africa’s main focus as president of the G20 should be on four things. Sharing knowledge about climate-smart agricultural practices and improving food security through increased trade are key. Increasing South Africa’s fertiliser manufacture and trade with the rest of the continent and nurturing agriculture incubators between African countries and developed nations, are also crucial.
How the G20 influences food security and agriculture
The core work of the G20 is done by various working groups and task forces. As president of the G20, South Africa has established a task force dedicated to food security.
This task force could influence the G20 to work towards food security through job creation that gives workers more money to spend.
However, it should also focus on food security through better agricultural productivity. Agricultural growth is generally two to three times more effective at reducing poverty than an equivalent amount of growth generated in other industries (for example, car manufacturing or mining).
Positive spin-offs from agricultural productivity have the most impact on the poorest individuals in society. Increased food supplies reduce poverty and lessen food insecurity and malnutrition.
Related stories
- Why South Africa’s G20 leadership matters for farming
- G20 Summit sparks optimism for Mzansi agriculture in 2025
What the G20’s food security task force needs to do
To achieve this progress, the G20’s food security task force should consider four broad interventions in agriculture.
First, there should be a strong call for sharing knowledge on climate-smart agricultural practices. These are new innovations and ways of farming that minimise the damage caused to crops by climate-related disasters like drought and heatwaves. This is important because Africa is very vulnerable to natural disasters.
For African agriculture to take off, governments must set up coordinated policies on how to respond to disasters. These responses must include everything African countries need to mitigate against climate-related disasters, adapt to climate change, and recover quickly when disasters hit.
The G20 could be the first body to champion this messaging, with South Africa consulting other African countries and leading the discussion.
Second, South Africa should try to improve food security in Africa through trade. South Africa already enjoys deeper access to agricultural trade with several G20 economies through lower tariffs and some tariff-free access. It is in the G20 members’ interest to ensure that open trade is maintained. This enables countries to buy and sell agricultural produce at lower prices.
This is vital in the current environment where some nations are increasingly looking inward and taking a more confrontational approach to trade. African countries whose agriculture is less productive may not benefit as much in the short term. However, in the long run, the benefits will cascade to other parts of the continent.
Third, South Africa should continue prioritising discussions about improving fertiliser manufacturing and trade in Africa. Sub-Saharan African countries have poor fertiliser access and usage. Yet, greater fertiliser adoption is a key part of growing more food and reducing hunger.
Access to affordable finance is also a challenge. Therefore, linking discussions on fertiliser with investments in network industries such as roads and ports is key. It is one thing to have fertilisers available, but moving them to areas of farming is difficult in some countries and increases the costs for farmers.
As part of this, the G20 should drive localised production. Producing fertiliser on the continent would lessen the negative impact of global price shocks. It would also make it affordable for even the most vulnerable African countries to buy and distribute fertiliser.
Lastly, South Africa must host incubators with developed and developing countries. These are places where knowledge of agricultural technology and investment opportunities could be shared. This work stream would involve most mechanical and IT-related technologies that improve farming and value chains for crops.
South Africa’s G20 presidency is critical for Africa
Most G20 countries are advanced in the agricultural and food security work area. Knowledge sharing would benefit Africa. Knowledge sharing should go beyond technology and include best policy practices. Insights about how South Africa, Australia, the European Union and Canada, to name a few, progressed in agriculture would be valuable.
As a chair, the South African government should define a clear agenda that takes into account what has been done by countries like Brazil to achieve positive outcomes in agricultural productivity and global trade. At the same time, the South African G20 presidency should chart a new future-ready path.
The G20 work and its interventions must be inclusive and sensitive to nature. They must also respond more effectively to the world’s primary socio-economic challenges like food insecurity. Following these four steps we have outlined may take the African continent forward.
- This article was first published by The Conversation. Wandile Sihlobo is the chief agricultural economist at the Agricultural Business Chamber of South Africa (Agbiz). The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views or positions of Food For Mzansi.
ALSO READ: From cleaner to champion: SA Dairy Awards honours Dzindikwa
Sign up for Mzansi Today: Your daily take on the news and happenings from the agriculture value chain
